Small Apartments

by Chris Millis

Winner of the 2000 3-Day Novel-Writing Contest

A capricious comedy of errors, "Small Apartments" resonates with tremulous energy and memorable characters. Franklin is a fully realized and sympathetic protagonist in the vein of Ignatius Reilly ("A Confederacy of Dunces"), a simple man who yearns for &quote;a land of pastoral serenity&quote; devoid of the irritants of contemporary urban life. An offbeat tale, "Small Apartments" is accented along the way by murder, strange fingernail collections, and the occasional blast from a treasured alphorn.

Genres: Fiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published May 16, 2001

Reviews

[Udai · Rating 4 out of 5]

"When you assume you make an ASS of U and ME"

When I watched the movie a long time ago I thought that it was .... Different? But in a good way. And it made me read the novel.

Small apartments is a small novel with a big impact. It leads its characters into realizing life and happiness and helps the reader realizing that somehow.

I can't believe it was written in only three days! It was really weired fast read and I enjoyed it.

[Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding story! And, to think it was written in 3 days!

[Monica · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK-ish and funny in a dark way, but not something to re-read or recommend.

[Emma Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never assume, because that’s when you make an ass out of u and me

[Joseph Pfeffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Small apartments starts out well, centering on its antihero main character Franklin Franklin. The first third of the novel, which mainly describes Franklin's pathetic yet somehow engaging life in a lower middle-class section of an undistinguished city (Buffalo), along with the lives of his equally pathetic neighbors, has a nice dry humor reminiscent of someone like, say, David Sedaris or Augusten Burroughs. The problem is that the book becomes somewhat plot heavy as it moves along, requiring Millis to spend a good deal of time working out the details. And little in the plot hangs together. It's like Millis felt he had to have one, so threw in several strands that don't relate to each other. Somewhere around the middle, Small Apartments goes a bit flat, so that finishing it is not nearly so much fun as starting it. Still, it's a quick, fun read. My biggest question is how come MIllis wrote this novel in three days back in 2000, and hasn't written a novel since. You'd think he'd have a few hundred by now.

[Eliza Orlic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though comedy normally isn't my go to read, I really did enjoy this one. I liked how everything ended and I think it could end this way because of how short it is, just like life. Though comedic and ironic, a quick life lesson as well. The choice to change perspectives in chapters was very smart even if I did not appreciate it at first. I wanted to stay focused on Franklin, but by the end, I was very glad to have spent time with Tommy to be able to wrap that up as well as Burt as I would have wondered about the dog too.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok book. definitely a quick and easy read lol

[Abhinav Ka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely funny. The plot is very simple, the book has not much of a backstory. A really quick read.